Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers

Greetings from Sunrise, where the Jets will look to rebound after a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that left them 1-1 on this four-game road trip.

After a mostly even first period, the Jets struggled to generate much offensively on Thursday and their poor puck management fed into the transition game for the Lightning.

This is another battle between teams that are much further below the playoff line than they planned to be. While the Jets trail the final wild card spot in the Western Conference by 10 points, the Panthers remain eight points behind the Boston Bruins (though they do hold two games in hand) and they’ve dropped consecutive one-goal games to the St. Louis Blues and Utah Mammoth after rattling off a three-game winning streak.

The Jets and Panthers played an intense game last week in Winnipeg that ended in a 2-1 shootout win for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

“You have to be okay playing that game where you might not get something every shift,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry.

“They press up all over the ice, they’re going to dump a lot of pucks. You have to be ready to compete when you’re in one on one battles, and then work to get to the net. It’s high pressure in a lot of the zones. They battle hard.

“We’re going to have to play a similar style like we did at home against them and be comfortable in that game. Not to try to open it up and feed into what makes them good, and that’s capitalizing when teams don’t want to stay patient against them.”

The Jets find themselves in a tricky position, knowing they need to play a smart, patient game between the whistles while recognizing the urgency and intensity required to go on a run, recognizing there are only 29 games remaining in the regular season, including eight before the NHL trade deadline is in the rearview mirror.

Gustav Nyquist looks like he will be replacing Tanner Pearson in the Jets lineup, Saturday. (Matt Slocum / The Associated Press files)

There won’t be a morning skate, so there could be some questions about the lineups, though it’s worth noting that Jets winger Gustav Nyquist was skating on the fourth line with Barron and Cole Koepke, so it looks like he will be replacing Tanner Pearson. Nyquist has eight assists in 32 games this season and his last NHL goal came against the Calgary Flames on Apr. 11 of 2025 when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild (a span of 34 games and that stretches to 40 if you include the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs).

Jets head coach Scott Arniel made tweaks to all four of his lines from the previous game in another effort to try and spark the offence that was limited to Kyle Connor’s redirection goal against the Lightning.

“I kind of have an idea of what’s coming (on Saturday) with the matchups,” said Arniel, referring to the chess game he’s expecting from former Jets bench boss Paul Maurice. “I’m just kind of going down that road with it.”

With three more games before the Olympic break, it makes sense for the Jets to get Eric Comrie one start before then and since it’s doubtful anyone other than Connor Hellebuyck gets the Central Division battle against the Dallas Stars on Monday, the backup will either play on Saturday or at home on Wednesday.

The Panthers continue to deal with a number of key injuries, including one to centre Anton Lundell, who is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is considered a game-day decision.

Here’s some other information to get your ready for the second and final meeting of the regular season between these two teams:

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: There should be plenty of desperation in the air here as two teams in danger of falling completely out of the playoff picture – if they aren’t there already – meet again. It’s incredible to believe that the Jets and Panthers, who represent the reigning Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup winners, are a combined 18 points out of the race heading into action.

What a difference a year can make.

Florida should be extra grumpy considering how they lost on Thursday to St. Louis, with Jimmy Snuggerud breaking the tie with nine seconds left in regulation. That’s a valuable point (or two) they let slip away.

As for the Jets, they were seriously outclassed in Tampa, especially in the third period when you’d have expected the home team to sit back on a two-goal cushion and the visitors to press. Instead, Winnipeg was outshot 16-4 in the final frame.

Winnipeg Jets winger Nino Niederreiter is sitting at 499 career NHL points. (Karl DeBlaker / The Associated Press files)

Is this the game Nino Niederreiter (one more point for 500) and Josh Morrissey (two points for the all-time franchise lead by a defenceman) finally hit their milestones? Niederreiter had several good looks against Tampa Bay but couldn’t convert, while Morrissey is now riding a season-long four game pointless drought.

I continue to be confused by the usage of Morgan Barron, who still finds himself on the fourth line despite Arniel shuffling things up. The big, speedy forward has been one of the (few) bright lights outside the top line this year and deserves a chance to be featured in a bigger role. I’d love to see him in the top six, whether it’s as the second-line centre or playing on the wing. Anything to get him more ice time and puck touches.

Assuming Hellebuyck starts, this will be his 13th in January. That’s a heavy workload for anyone, especially a player who missed nearly a month with a knee injury that required surgery, and one who is expected to be leaned on by the U.S. Olympic team in the next couple weeks. Although he’s shown flashes of his Hart Trophy/Vezina Trophy self, Hellebuyck is still trying to get back into form.

In his 12 games this month, he is 4-5-3 with a very pedestrian 3.07 goals against average and .895 save percentage. He’s given up at least three goals in nine of those starts, including the last three.

KEN SAYS: Full marks to Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov for opening up about the offensive challenges he’s been facing this season, with just one goal during the past 40 games after producing six in the first 12 games (which was actually six in nine because he was held without a point in the first three games of the campaign).

Namestnikov conceded that slumps are part of the game, but he’s never gone through a cold spell quite like this. Still, he remains upbeat and is putting in the extra work required to push through, which is why he’s been such a valued support player throughout his NHL career.

I continue to be impressed with the progress defenceman Elias Salomonsson is taking during this second stint in the NHL. Thursday was just his 10th career game in The Show and it was his most impactful on the offensive side as he managed a team-high six shots on goal and 10 shot attempts, all without raising the risk profile, even when the Jets had fallen behind by a pair of goals on two separate occasions.

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Elias Salomonsson (left) continues to impress in his development, playing in just his 10th NHL game Thursday night against Tampa Bay. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)

“The one thing he’s really good at is the off-side one-timer, which I like a lot, especially if we can beat the opposition to the net front,” said Arniel. “He’s got mobility too. So, he gets off the wall and creates his own lanes. That’s the hardest part for defencemen in this league. Everybody wants to block shots, so you have to get it by that first layer and that’s where he’s done a really good job of getting (his shot) through.”

The defending element has improved steadily and Salomonsson’s skating ability – especially his lateral movement – is something that should allow him to flourish in a Top-4 role for years to come.

Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk is up to two goals and six points since returning from injury and he’s coming off a performance that included two goals and an assist against the Blues.

Tkachuk is someone who is generally in the middle of the action and he’s someone that the Jets will be paying attention to in this one, as he’s recorded 10 goals and 25 points in 28 career games against Winnipeg.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Niederreiter-Toews-Namestnikov
Koepke-Barron-Nyquist

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Stanley-Schenn

GOAL:

Hellebuyck
Comrie

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Phillips, F Pearson

INJURED: D Fleury (nose, back), D Miller (lower-body), D Pionk (lower-body)

FLORIDA PANTHERS

FORWARDS:

Verhaeghe-Rodrigues-Reinhart
Samoskevich-Bennett-Tkachuk
Luostarinen-Schwindt-Boquist
Vilmanis-Kunin-Greer

DEFENCE:

Forsling-Ekblad
Mikkola-Balinskis
Bjornfot-Petry

GOAL:

Bobrovsky
Tarasov

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Sebrango

INJURED: D Jones (upper body), D Kulikov (upper body), C Barkov (knee), C Lundell (upper body), LW Marchand (undisclosed), F Nosek (knee), F Gadjovich (upper body)

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets head coach Scott Arniel on what he’d like to see from Gustav Nyquist if he returns to the lineup on Saturday after being a healthy scratch in 12 of the past 14 games:

“Go out and use his skillset, that’s what he needs to do. Do what we need him to do offensively, especially.”